Chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are valued as refrigerants and propellants. When they are released to the atmosphere, however, they destroy Earth‰??s protective ozone layer. Although an international treaty controls the use of such compounds, a study last year indicated that concentrations of some of them continued to increase through 2012. Follow-up measurements now indicate that concentrations of two HCFCs, CH2ClF and CF3CH2Cl, peaked around 2012 and have since steeply declined, with emissions dropping by as much as 50% in three years (Geophys. Res. Lett. 2015, DOI: 10.1002/2015gl064709 and 10.1002/2015gl065846). The compounds were studied by international teams led by Fabian Schoenenberger and Martin K. Vollmer of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science & Technology. CH2ClF has been used to a limited extent in refrigerant blends, and CF3CH2Cl has no known industrial use. The researchers propose that the compounds are most likely p! roduced and emitted as intermediates or by-products of manufacturing HCFCs and that the decrease is probably due to a change in the processes that make those HCFCs. Emissions from other sources would be unlikely to show the observed steep decline.

China‰??s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) says it will spend the next several weeks conducting safety inspections at port, chemical, and nonferrous metal facilities throughout 16 provinces.The inspections will check that operators have undergone required environmental impact assessments and will seek to identify hazardous conditions and improper wastewater disposal.They come in the wake of a massive explosion in the port city of Tianjin on Aug. 12. It occurred at a warehouse in which large quantities of hazardous chemicals were stored. The death toll for the disaster exceeds 160.Pan Yue, MEP‰??s vice minister, says operational risks at the sites targeted for inspection ‰??still threaten environmental safety, public health, and even social stability.‰??MEP also will look at construction activity and plans to evaluate storage and handling safety in the chemical industry, which could experience a spike in construction after the Tianjin blast.So far, the explosion doesn‰??t appear to have had a major impact on Western companies operating in China. Guy Villax, the chairman of Rx-360, a group of fine chemical and drug companies that pools data about plant inspections, says the group recently surveyed members to assess whether to study the accident‰??s implications for the pharmaceutical supply chain. It found that only one member had shipments impacted.‰??As a result, the initiative did not go forward as we felt it unjustified,‰?? says Villax, who is CEO of Hovione, a Portuguese drug chemical firm with a plant in China.

Lipstick, eye glitter, face paint, and other costume makeup‰??often made in China‰??may contain hazardous chemicals such as lead, warns Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), referring to a study by a health activist group. The senator is urging the Food & Drug Administration to set a limit for lead in cosmetics and beef up enforcement of packaging regulations, which require manufacturers to list all ingredients in cosmetics.‰??Traces of lead and other heavy metals have consistently been found in Halloween and costume makeup from other countries and poses a great threat to the health of our children, especially during the fall season,‰?? Schumer says in an Oct. 18 letter to FDA Acting Commissioner Stephen Ostroff. Schumer cites a 2009 study by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a project of the Breast Cancer Fund, which found all 10 face paints it tested contained lead and six of the 10 had nickel, cobalt, or chromium.Exposure to lead and other metals is associated with impaired cognitive ability. Health organizations around the world have concluded that there is no safe level of lead exposure, particularly for children whose brains are still developing.

(KUTV) Fire crews worked through the night to put out a structure fire in West Valley City Sunday morning. Investigators estimate the fire and water damage as "several millions of dollars".

A commercial building at 1940 W. Alexander St. caught fire at around 2 a.m. Sunday. According to the West Valley City Fire Department, the building was fully engulfed by the time crews arrived.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze by an employee who was notified by a motion sensor security alarm, according to a tweet by the West Valley City Fire Department Sunday, and no sprinklers or fire alarms were in the business.

Crews fought the fire from the outside because there was the possibility of explosive materials inside the building, which is a testing laboratory.

"Anytime you hear those reports, it always makes us a little nervous," said West Valley Fire Battalion Chief Bob Fitzgerald. "We want to make sure we keep that safe."

The operator of a closed radioactive waste dump that caught fire in southern Nevada last weekend was troubled over the years by leaky shipments and oversight so lax that employees took contaminated tools and building materials home, according to state and federal records.

A soundless 40-second video turned over by the firm, US Ecology, to state officials showed bursts of white smoke and dirt flying from several explosions on 18 October from the dump in the brown desert, about 110 miles north-west of Las Vegas.

In the 1970s, the company had its license suspended for mishandling shipments ‰?? about the same time state officials say the material that exploded and burned last weekend was accepted and buried.

Nevada now has ownership and oversight of the property, which opened in 1962 near Beatty as the nation‰??s first federally licensed low-level radioactive waste dump. It closed in 1992. State officials said this week they did not immediately know what blew up.

A state fire inspector, Martin Azevedo, surveyed the site on Wednesday.

His report, obtained Friday by the Associated Press, described moisture in the pit and ‰??heavily corroded‰?? 55-gallon drums in and around the 20ft-by-30ft crater. Debris from the blast spread 190ft. Two drums were found outside the fence line.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) ‰?? The Lafayette Police Department responded to an explosion that rocked a neighborhood on Friday night.

Police responded to calls of an explosion and observed that the door to the refrigerator in the apartment seemed to be the source of the explosion, because it had been blown off of the hinges and into a nearby counter.

Police also noticed that there was a strong chemical smell coming from the entire apartment. After searching, they determined that no one was in the residence.

Officials surveyed the area and found a bag in a dumpster that they believed contained what is called a ‰??One Pot‰?? meth lab.

Police called in the Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Unit who were able to confirm that the bag was indeed a meth lab.

A strange odor forced residents of an Arroyo Grande neighborhood to stay inside with all windows and doors closed Sunday night, Five Cities Fire Authority officials tell KSBY. Around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Five Cities Fire Authority was dispatched to Calle Carman for a structure fire.When the fire department arrived, there was no fire and the situation became a hazardous material event. According to Five Cities Fire Authority Fire Chief Steve Lieberman, the problem seems to be with a chemical used to dye fabric in the garage of a family's two-story home.

The family told firefighters they noticed the fabric dye was reacting and smoking. There is a lingering scent in the neighborhood of a rotten egg-type smell, however officials say it is beginning to dissipate.

Cal Fire SLO and the regional hazmat team has been called to help the situation. At this time, the street is closed off, there is no fire, and no one has been injured.

As more applications based on synthetic biology come to market, are the existing federal regulations adequate to address the risks posed by this emerging technology?

Please join us for the release of our new report, The DNA of the U.S. Regulatory System: Are We Getting It Right for Synthetic Biology? Panelists will discuss how synthetic biology applications would be regulated by the U.S. Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology, how this would affect the market pathway of these applications and whether the existing framework will protect human health and the environment.

There has been another chemical spill at the Chevron refinery in Pascagoula. MDEQ‰??s enforcement chief, Ernie Shirley, tells News 25 that just before midnight last night nearly 10,000 gallons of a hydrocarbon oil mix was spilled. There is good news. The spill has been contained into a ditch on the Chevron property. Vacuum trucks were sent in to put the oil back into the process system. According to Shirley, this is considered a process upset and what caused the spill is still under investigation.Chevron did release a statement this afternoon saying: ‰??Refinery teams responded and the leak was immediately contained. The spilled material contains volatile organic compounds. Refinery safety specialists have conducted air monitoring within the refinery throughout the event response, with the results confirming there is no danger to the community. The refinery has notified and will continue to coordinate with all appropriate local, state, and federal agencies.‰??

Firefighters spent several hours battling a fire at a chemical plant in Atmore.Smoke was reported Saturday morning at Sunbelt Chemicals, located just off Highway 31 near the Atmore Country Club. The source of the smoke was traced to a smoldering fire inside insulation located over an office area inside the plant. The insulation contained sulfur dust that was burning, official said.Firefighters worked for hours to remove the smoldering insulation. There were no injuries reported, and officials say the fire poised no danger to the public.The plant manufactures and distributes sulfur products.

BANGOR, Maine ‰?? A garbage truck caught fire on Friday in the parking lot of a warehouse at 70 Bennett St., according to officials.

Bangor Assistant Fire Chief Anthony Riitano said the driver, who was not identified, had just picked up his last load for the day when he noticed it was on fire.

The driver quickly dumped his load from the Casella truck and was not injured, according to Riitano. Firefighters contained the blaze within minutes.

Firefighters arrived shortly after 2 p.m.

The warehouse is operated by Affiliated Material Service, an affiliate of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems. Riitano said nobody was evacuated from the warehouse.

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HOW DOES NOAA HELP CLEAN UP OIL AND CHEMICAL SPILLS?Tags: public, discovery, environmental

ust like we may need sponges, scrub brushes, and a disinfectant to expel a mess in our house or yard, emergency responders employ a variety of tools and techniques to remove oil and chemicals spilled in our rivers, bays, and oceans, and washed up on our shores.

For more than 30 years, NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration has played a leading role in the evolving science of hazardous materials (also known as "HAZMAT") spill response. The following infographics provide a clear explanation of this always complex process.

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